Last weekend I dragged my mother-in-law with me to Tulsa for a plant festival. We were spending the day with my mom, sister and niece. I thought it would be a good outing for the two of us. We could pick out plants together and maybe do some shopping. You know, some bonding. I was mostly worried about my mom. She has always been a bit critical, but since J’s death she’s been horrible. She can say the cruelest things.

I don’t know if it was because the celestial beings were in perfect alignment or what, but my mom was on her best behavior. We had a great time at the plant festival. My mother-in-law was thrilled to find Thai pepper plants and we bought some tomato and basal plants. I bought more lavender plants to murder (can’t get those things to live!). Things were going smooth until we ended up at the sales wracks in Dillards.

I don’t really understand why my mother can’t wrap it around her brain that I have lost weight. She’s always randomly thrown in little snaps about my weight. One time a cousin I hadn’t seen in a while remarked on how good I looked. I said something about wishing I was thinner and how I went to the gym all the time. My mom pipped up and said “Yeah, she goes to the gym all the time and she just can’t manage to loose the weight”. I was too shocked to do any thing but blink.

This apparently has not changed. She kept pulling out the XL sizes for me and saying “How about this? This is nice”. Every time I would reply “Yeah, but it’s too big. I wear L now”. She did keep me from buying very much though, saving me some money. Sometimes I really want to know what’s going on in her brain when she says these things. It only gets to me a teeny tiny bit. I know I’m doing great. I’m happy and healthy. So what if I’m not a cover model. I feel good about myself and that’s all that matters.

I did bond with my mother-in-law. She earned a place in my heart when she stuck up for me, going on and on about all the good stuff I eat throughout the week because Chris and I are on a diet. She told my mother that I deserved that buffalo burger because I do so well during the week. Score one for the mother-in-law.

My brain is on overload from all the new information from this months yoga teacher training. This has been the first weekend where we’ve actually done lots of yoga instead of just talking about yoga. When I started this endeavor I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up physically. There were moments on Sunday when I thought if I had to do one more Sun Salutation, I was going to cry. But by the end of that evening, I wasn’t as tired as I thought I’d be. Of course, I felt differently when I had to get out of bed the next day.

Chris has decided to start going back to the Y with me in the mornings (yeah!) and he got all of his things ready Sunday night. When the alarm went off Monday morning, my body screamed at me to stay in bed, but I just couldn’t do it. I had to get up because I’m the one that gets us out the door in the mornings. But it wasn’t pretty. I lost the car keys. Found them in the trunk. I nearly killed us parallel parking at our new favorite coffee place. There was something else, but I forget what it is.

That’s another thing. My mind has not been present. I’ve lost my keys about a million times. The other night I went to make the egg for Hooper’s dinner. I was sitting on the couch wondering what was taking his egg so long to cook. I went in the kitchen and realized that not only had I not plugged the egg poacher in, but I hadn’t even set the tray inside the egg poacher. I’m losing it. But my yoga practice is really good.

The other day we received a flyer in the mail on recycling from our governor. We didn’t have access to the blue recycling bins at our old place because we weren’t considered Oklahoma City. As I read through the list of recyclables, I said that we needed to order a blue bin. Chris’s mom pipes up says “We have one!”. I didn’t believe her and kind of thought she didn’t understand what I was talking about. But she assured me that we did indeed have a blue bin and she took me outside to see it. We do have a blue recycle bin. She’s been using to store the garden hoses. Our recycling program begins…now!

On a completely unrelated note, I may have a new pen pal from Russia. Some girl who collects tea tags (yeah, tea tags) saw one of my 365 day pictures of me holding a fortune cookie styled tea tag. She asked me if I’d send it to her. Now Chris, because he has a cold, black cynical heart, said she may be a crazy (I am a crazy magnet). But I emailed her any way and told her I could send her my tea tags. She was overjoyed and sent me her mailing address. Cool! She doesn’t have to know my mailing address and I think it’s kind of a neat idea. It’s like trading stamps, but with tea tags. I had no idea there were so many different types of tea tags.

Umm…I guess that’s about it. Things are pretty boring around here.

This week Today did a story on the dangers of plastic bottles. A government report soon to be released is raising concerns over Bisphenal A, a common chemical found in plastics. This chemical has been shown to affect hormones in animal studies, affecting fertility in both males and females.

This chemical is not just found in water bottles, but in baby bottles and children’s sippy cups. It also thought that heating liquid in these containers cause the chemicals to leach out faster. The bottom of the bottle should have number on it. A 1 or 2 are OK, but numbers 3, 6, and 7 should be avoided. Actually 7 poses the most danger, including cancer risks since high levels of hormones can stimulate certain cancers (prostrate and breast cancers).

Normally, I hear this stuff and shake it off. But The Today Show’s health adviser Dr. Nancy Snyderman is a pretty level headed woman. So when she says “If I were to err on the side of caution, don’t use those, use others”, I’m going to take that advice. Of course, the water bottle I keep at work (one of my favorites) is a 7. I’m replacing it this weekend.

Chris and I took a trip out to see Tiffany and Tom in Clovis, NM this weekend. It was a trip we should have made earlier because it was only after seeing Tiffany and Tom that I realized just how much I miss having them around in my daily life. They are the same people we loved back in grad-school. Tom gives the world’s best hugs. It’s like he hugs with all his soul. I think every one should get a hug from Tom at least once in their lives. And Tiffany never fails to make me laugh. She’s just one of those people that feels good to be around, not to mention she has the biggest heart.

They are anxiously awaiting an addition to their little family and Tom held a little party/baby shower for her. I think Tiffany opened three presents before she decided that that was enough baby shower stuff for the day. I know they are getting nervous about being parents. They have nothing to worry about. They’ll be great parents (I did mention that Tiffany’s heart is gynormous). I can’t wait to visit them in their new place after the baby comes!

Clovis is everything Tiffany ever ranted about and more. The stench is unbelievable. Chris said this town could even turn him into a vegetarian. When there’s little stench, the wind roars. Constantly. Non stop. Wind. But, when the stench and wind start to get you down, you can always drive over to the prairie dog field. They were a particular highlight of Clovis. The truth is, we could have been visiting Tiffany and Tom in worse places (Bovina) and we still would have had a good time. I have to admit to getting a little teary when we gave our final farewell hugs. Part of me wanted to bundle Tiffany home with us (just until they made the move). As God is my witness, I will never wait so long to visit Tiffany again!